First of all, we need to understand how business writing is different from the writing we all did in school. Clearly, the audience is different. We are preparing documents for a whole range of people, not just our teacher. There's a lot more riding on our success. Money is changing hands, and our image is on the line. In addition, we have a more defined purpose: we may be writing simply to inform, to document information for our own protection, to instruct, or to persuade others. There's more than a grade at stake.